


Adjustments

by Beetlebabe



Category: DCU, DCU - Comicverse, DCU Animated, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-04-17
Updated: 2011-04-18
Packaged: 2017-10-18 07:02:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/186242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beetlebabe/pseuds/Beetlebabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stephanie Brown enters the Young Justice universe, throwing her and the YJ Bruce Wayne for a loop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is operating under the premise that Stephanie Brown has dimension-hopped onto Earth 16, the Young Justice Animated world, from the comics-verse.

Bruce hadn't expected Stephanie Brown to take to a hop between dimensions quite so well. She'd appeared half a month ago, exhausted and terrified, in a Gotham that only vaguely resembled her own, wearing a Batgirl costume that neither Bruce nor Dick had seen before. It took nearly a week for the ensuing confusion to begin to settle. Just to be sure, J'onn visited, taking a moment to gently pore through Stephanie's memories and ensure the crew that she was, indeed, from another Earth. Still, she was from an Earth where she'd been Batman's Robin, and Bruce couldn't see any other choice but let her stay in the manor. After all, he supposed, his counterpart would have done the same, wouldn't he?

It was hard to believe that she'd been a Robin. She was only a few years younger than Bruce--that meant that his counterpart, on her earth, was at least a decade older. She fought with control, and with the sign of years of training and practice. When she went on patrol with Batman and Robin, she'd held up her own and then some. She even managed to make a few puns that had Robin snickering.

Now, Bruce watched as Stephanie sparred with Dick in the gym. She wasn't as agile as he was, but she played by unconventional rules, and Dick was already losing by two points to four. They won a point whenever they knocked the other fighter to the ground--Stephanie stood on the high bar, perfectly balanced, and thumbed her nose at the boy.

"Attend, young grasshopper," she said, doing a neat little backflip as Dick swooped down to tag her. She grabbed his leg and pulled him down, both of them landing on the soft blue mats below the bar. Dick laughed and punched her arm, and she ruffled his hair.

When she saw Bruce at the door, her smile disappeared. Dick looked up at her, confused by her sudden tension, and glanced up at Bruce.

"Hey, Dick," Bruce said. "Stephanie." He took off his overshirt and draped it on a hook by the door. "Do you mind if I try my hand?"

"Go for it." Dick grinned. He clambered off the mat, and made his way to the corner of the room where the weight equipment was. He leaned against one of the benches and gave Stephanie a thumbs up. Steph grimaced.

"What are the rules?" Bruce asked, leaping onto a balance beam. "Don't touch the ground?"

"That's about it," Stephanie said. She climbed onto the other end of the beam, and braced herself in a defensive stance. "You know you have one up on me."

"I won't hold back."

Stephanie's lips twitched, and she struck out, aiming for Bruce's neck. He blocked, feinted, and nearly got a hit in before she jumped, using his shoulders as a springboard to land at his back.

Dick let out a low whistle.

"Never said to fight fair," Steph said, then yelped as Bruce swept her feet out from under her. She nearly fell, but swung herself up and onto the thin beam where Dick practiced his flips. Bruce doubted it could take both of their weights--he jumped to another beam and struck almost too fast for Steph to block. She did, barely, but it would probably yield a bruise by the end of the day. She somersaulted onto a beam next to Bruce, and kicked high.

"You're scared," Bruce said, grabbing her foot. She freed herself and landed a kick in his side. "Are Robins on your earth trained to be afraid of their mentor?"

"Sort of," she said. She stepped back when Bruce jumped to her beam. They were fighting close, now, and it was clear that while Steph was years ahead of Dick in hand-to-hand, she had a while to go before she could beat Bruce. She stumbled back, and Bruce followed.

"That can't be a very effective way to earn trust," he said. Stephanie paused, and he grabbed her hand to keep her from losing her balance off the edge of the beam. She looked at him searchingly, eyes narrowed.

"It's not about trust," she said.

Bruce felt like he'd just leapt from a high-rise without a grapple, and the ground was closing in fast. The look in her eyes--it wasn't fear, like he'd thought, or wariness. It was betrayal; a deep, untended hurt. Bruce took a step back and released her hand. She let out the breath she'd been holding.

"It is with me," he said. "I don't let my partners down."

"I'm not--"

"For now," Bruce said, before she could finish, "you are." He raised his voice. "Well. That was a good match, don't you think?" He held out a hand for Stephanie to shake.

She hesitated, looked out at Dick watching from the weight benches, and took Bruce's hand. He smiled at her warmly.

"Let's go see Alfred," he said. "We have a few plans, in case you have to stay with us a little longer than expected."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "Wow," she said, dryly. "That's not ominous at all..."


	2. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie Brown takes a job at Wayne Industries...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is in an AU where Stephanie Brown from the comics-verse has dimension-hopped into the Young Justice Animated world.

The trustees of Wayne Inc. were used to seeing their head CEO burst through the doors thirty minutes into a meeting. What they weren't used to, however, was entering the board room to find him lounging in his chair, feet up on the table, with a slightly frazzled-looking young woman standing at his side with a clipboard.

"He-llo," he said, as the board members dazedly filed in. "Good morning! This is my new assistant, Cynthia--"

"Stephanie," said the woman.

"Stephia Brown," he finished. "Isn't she charming? Someone from the agency sent her over. Said I was neglecting my duties?" He looked up at Stephanie with a doe-eyed expression. She sighed--one of the board members gave her a comforting look, and she flashed him a strained smile.

"I'm just here to make sure everything is in working order," she said, sitting in a chair just behind Bruce. "Please, don't mind me."

"Babysitter!" Bruce said, as though the word had just come to him. "That's what the agency called you!"

From his seat at the far end of the table, Bruce's friend, Lucius Fox, hid a laugh.

"Anyways," Bruce said, as the board room finally filled. "Miss Symphony--"

"Stephanie--"

"Says that I'm supposed to be here on time today, which, as you can tell, I am." He gestured to himself, then to the rest of the room. Then he promptly swung aside, hopped out of his chair, and lazily strode toward the door.

His assistant looked up in consternation. He glanced back at her, an impish smile on his face, and waggled his fingers as he opened the door.

"You never said I had to stay," he sing-songed, and closed the door shut behind him.

\----

Four hours later, Stephanie slipped into the limo beside Bruce, took off her fake glasses, and punched him in the arm. Hard. He winced and chuckled.

"You don't know how many times I had to hide in the bathroom just so I could laugh!" she said, throwing her hands in the air. "One of the girls on the fifth floor thought I was crying! She said the first day is always the hardest--honestly, Bruce, you should have warned me!"

"Oh, come on," Bruce said. He leaned back, raising his eyebrows at Steph conspiratorially. "It was too fun to ruin with a warning. You should have seen your face when I tried to climb out the window..."

Stephanie groaned, and tapped on the glass between them and the front seat. Alfred lowered the screen, and she leaned against the partition.

"Is he always like this?" she asked. Alfred gave her a weary look.

"Ever since I've known him, Miss Stephanie."

Stephanie pointed an accusatory finger at Bruce and sat back against her seat. "You're a bad man, Mister Wayne."

"And you're a brilliant actress, Miss Brown," said Bruce. "Why, if I didn't know better, I'd've thought you really were annoyed with me all afternoon!"

Stephanie let out a huff and sagged in defeat, and Bruce didn't bother hiding a smug grin.

It seems they'd found the perfect cover job for Stephanie after all.

\-----

Dick was more than pleased to find that Stephanie was still around when he came back from school. He treated her like she could disappear at any moment--which was true, in a way--and had taken a liking to her despite his initial caution. Sometimes, Bruce could be a little too forlorn, too brooding, for a boy who grew up with two optimistic parents in a tight-knit circus community. He needed someone else who could laugh at his jokes, ask him questions about his Young Justice team, and commiserate with when he felt Bruce was being a bit too harsh.

She was still in her work suit, helping Dick with his English homework, when Bruce headed down the stairs with a gait that shouted "Batman." She looked up before Dick did, carefully looking for the cause of Bruce's change of demeanor.

"League business," he said, and Dick bit his lip. He was still peeved about learning that there was a satellite in space he didn't have access to. Stephanie, who knew a little of the story, absently ruffled Dick's hair.

"Stephanie," Bruce said, before he stepped down the stairs into the Cave. "Maybe you could accompany Dick to Mount Justice. Black Canary will be there for training--I've informed her of your situation, and she thought you might want someone to talk to who..."

"Who isn't Batman?" Steph said. Bruce nodded. "Thanks... Bruce. What do you think, Dick?"

"So long as you don't hit KF in the face," he said, closing his book. "I know how you get around flirty guys."

"Hey," Stephanie said, as Bruce disappeared into the Cave. "That was once. Or twice. And they deserved it."

"Right," Robin said, and left to call for Alfred. With any luck, they might be able to take the Batmobile.


	3. Homesick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie Brown is taking the dimension-hop from her world to the Young Justice world less well than could be expected...

Stephanie arrived at the manor at around five in the morning, long after Dick had been ordered to bed by a weary and slightly harassed-looking Alfred. Even the unflappable butler had retired--though Steph suspected he always kept at least one eye open--and the manor was dark, empty, its long halls strangely unwelcoming in the pre-dawn light. It almost felt like home. Steph kicked off her shoes and made a beeline for the gym.

She stood on the practice mats, smiling faintly, shifting her feet. These days, when she practiced, she pretended she was fighting against her old friends. Tim, she could beat. With Babs, she was efficient, trying to hold herself to her mentor's high expectations. She won, rarely, only when Babs decided to pull her strikes. With Cass, Steph only practiced when she was sure to be alone.

She always lost.

With her best friend, Stephanie made sure her body language was an open book. It usually was, but she was freer with Cass, withholding nothing. It was a sort of honesty only a certain type of friend could have, and Steph slipped into it now.

She blocked an invisible strike.

She reeled back from an imagined blow to her side.

She struck out, grinning, moving in a complicated dance that would have Cass smirking. Steph had a way of smiling with her whole body, and she was smiling now, thinking of how quickly Cass could throw her off her guard. In the stillness of the gym, her weary breath and quick feet almost sounded like two people, like she wasn't alone anymore, fighting shadows.

Then she stopped, because it struck her (like it always struck her) that this was ridiculous. Cass wasn't there. It made no sense to speak to an empty room, to open up to silence. She stood there a moment, feeling lost, and looked behind her to see Bruce leaning against the door. He hadn't bothered to change out of his suit, and a long gash ran up his right arm.

"Didn't look like you won that one," he said. Stephanie scowled at him.

"You had no right to see that," she said, and strode for the door. He didn't move out of her way, so she shoved past him.

"Stephanie." He touched her arm, and she slapped his hand away. "Who were you fighting?"

"A friend," she said. And at that, all the loneliness she'd been suppressing, all the fear that she'd never come home, the guilt at finding something of a place here, threatened to break over her. Bruce pulled her into his arms, and she felt his cape fall around her shoulders, which almost made it worse. Her Bruce would have never done this. Slowly, cautiously, she leaned into Bruce's chest. She stood there, silent, letting her heartbeat slow to match his.

"I thought you were handling it a little too well," Bruce said at last, and Stephanie huffed. "Are you ready to talk about it?"

"No," she said, thinking of Cass. "Not about my friend. But the rest of it? Maybe. Eventually." She glanced to the side, and frowned up at him. "What happened to your arm?"

"Trouble at the League," he said, and Steph raised her eyebrow. "It's settled. I came in through the roof--I was headed for the cave when I saw you..."

"And you ignored the obvious cut in your arm so you could watch me have a breakdown," she said, slipping into her Assistant voice. She stepped out from under his cape and sighed. "Well, I won't keep you. Go on."

Bruce took a step back, heading for the lounge. He paused. "You could come along, if you like."

Stephanie fell into step with him, peering at him closely. "Either someone bashed you on the head at the League," she said, "or you really are a different Bruce. Aren't you the dark knight? He who stands alone? My City, all that?"

"Robin wouldn't let me go that far," Bruce said. They descended the hidden stair into the Cave, the wall behind them closing with a soft click. Stephanie took care not to trip on his cape.

"Do you mind if I used the computer?" Stephanie asked, as Bruce made for the medical deck. "Unless you need help with your arm."

"I have it under control, thanks," Bruce said. "Go ahead. What do you need it for?" He opened the cabinet where the bandages and cleaning equipment were.

Stephanie sat at the computer, running her hands over the controls. "I'm looking for someone. If this is an alternate earth..."

"That might not be the best idea, Stephanie..."

"Yeah, yeah, but that's my schtick. Bad ideas, I mean." Steph pulled up the database.

David Cain. Confirmed. He was younger, too. The computer didn't say he had a daughter, but he was training in the same place where Cass had been raised... Stephanie searched for assassinations linked to Cain, and pictures flashed through the screen. No. No. Not it. Hardly a sign that anyone but Cain was involved. Stephanie frowned.

Tim Drake. Not found.

Jason Todd. Confirmed. Age eight.

Barbara Gordon. Confirmed. Age fifteen.

Stephanie Brown....

"Don't," said Bruce, from behind her. Steph looked up. He was down to his undershirt and briefs, with his cape hanging from his good arm. "It's better not to know."

"But if her father's Cluemaster," Stephanie started...

"He isn't. Cluemaster doesn't exist." Steph narrowed her eyes--Arthur Brown wasn't just a bad criminal, after all--but something in that made her stop. If Cluemaster wasn't alive... then she wasn't, either. She deleted her search and sighed.

"Why'd you look for Jim Gordon's niece?" Bruce asked, walking around her. "Shove over, I want to sit."

"Shove over? What are you, twelve?"

"No," Bruce said. "I'm twenty-seven, and I'm exhausted. Scoot."

With some fussing, the two managed to squeeze themselves into the chair. Stephanie's leg was draped over his, and his arm was lying just behind her back. It felt like something she and Dick would do, back home. It was... strange.

"Babs was the first Batgirl," Steph said. "She might still be. I guess if she takes it up, I could always be Batwoman..."

"Jim would be pleased to hear that," Bruce said, drily. "He's already concerned that I'm building a family of vigilantes, with you and Dick around. The tabloids are calling us the best scandal since Ollie and Dinah."

"Really?" Steph shook her head. "They're dead wrong. We wouldn't work out."

"You don't say."

"It's true." Stephanie raised her hands in a what-can-you-do gesture. "Batman only goes for seductive villains."

"Thank you for informing me," said Bruce. "It's hard to keep up. They throw themselves at me, you know."

"I'm sure. How hard it must be for you."

"Was that sarcasm I detected, Miss Brown?"

"I dunno, Sherlock. You tell me."

"Hah."

By the time Alfred found them in the later hours of the morning, Bruce and Steph had sprawled out on the chair, feet propped on the computer, using the cloak as an impromptu blanket. He took one look at them and decided that he would have to urge Dick not to visit the cave for another hour or so. After all, it was so rare to see either of them properly asleep, and he would hate to ruin the moment. Still miles from sleeping in a bed, of course, but he had to take what small victories the world presented...


End file.
